1997 BMW 3 Series 318 ti review from North America

The only problems with my car so far are minor at worst. The radio lights that illuminate the station selecting buttons fail to work when I turn on my headlights most of the time.

The check engine lite is extremely sensitive and came on due to a tiny tear in a rubber hose, which was a very cheap and easy fix, the part however took a very long time to arrive to my home.

The car does not like to shift until about 3000 rpms when the engine is not all the way heated up, when the temp gauge reaches halfway on my dash, the transmission starts to be normal and shifts wonderfully, I am told this is how all 318 ti models opperate and that it is no problem.

The previous owner changed the entire exaust system at about 115000 miles and The brake rotors and pads at that time as well. The spark plugs were swapped out at 96,000 miles, other than that the car has had absolutely no money put into it. When he sold the car to me, he made the statement "I promise you nothing major will go wrong until at least 250,000 miles, I just kind of laughed and thought he was just trying to sell it, now I realize he is probably true, this car is amazingly nimble, strong, and sound for how many miles it has.

This car is absolutely the best bang for the buck, the handeling is the best I have ever driven, the gas mileage is amazing, about 32 - 36 on the highway, my biggest problem is you have to be going much much faster than the speedlimit to be having fun with curves, it has suspension modifications, but I am certain stock 318's are superior in handiling as well.

The engine has plenty of punch for sure, but I wouldn't mind a little bit more power for lower rpm at high speed, but like I said it has plenty of power and can do 55 to 75 as fast as you need.

I love the interior the leather seats are very supportive yet comftorable, the sunroof is one touch witch is very nice and the soundsytem is decent, all are equipped with a 200 watt amp and 10 speakers. Many cool features come along with the car as well, BMW has definately proven itself to me, this was my first BMW and will definately not be the last, The drive feel is completely different than any other car, and really is the ultimate driving expiriance. I love this car.